SCIENCE
Distribution of fossil marine vertebrates in Cerro Colorado, the type locality of the giant raptorial sperm whale Livyatan melvillei (Miocene, Pisco Formation, Peru)
Giovanni Bianucci
a∗, Claudio Di Celma
b, Walter Landini
a, Klaas Post
c, Chiara Tinelli
a, Christian de Muizon
d, Karen Gariboldi
a,e, Elisa Malinverno
f, Gino Cantalamessa
b, Anna Gioncada
a, Alberto Collareta
a,e, Rodolfo-Salas Gismondi
g, Rafael Varas-Malca
g, Mario Urbina
gand Olivier Lambert
ha
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Universita` di Pisa, Via Santa Maria, 53, Pisa 56126, Italy;
bScuola di Scienze e Tecnologie, Universita` di Camerino, Camerino 62032, Italy;
cNatuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam, P.O Box 23452, Rotterdam 30001, The Netherlands;
dDe´partement Histoire de la Terre, (CR2P – CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, Sorbonne Universite´) Muse´um national d’Histoire naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier, Paris 75005, France;
eDottorato Regionale in Scienze della Terra Pegaso, Via Santa Maria, 53, Pisa 56126, Italy;
fDipartimento di Scienze dell’Ambiente e del Territorio e di Scienze della Terra, Universita` di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della scienza, 4, Milan 20126, Italy;
gDepartamento de Paleontologia de Vertebrados, Museo de Historia Natural-UNMSM, 1256, Avenida Arenales, Lima 14, Peru;
hInstitut royal des sciences naturelles de Belgique, D.O. Terre et Histoire de la Vie, 29, rue Vautier, Brussels 1000, Belgium
(Received 2 February 2015; resubmitted 23 April 2015; accepted 1 May 2015)
Hundreds of fossil marine vertebrates cropping out at Cerro Colorado (Pisco Basin, Peru) are identified and reported on a 1:6500 scale geological map and in a joined stratigraphic section.
All the fossils are from the lower strata of the Pisco Formation, dated in this area to the late middle or early late Miocene. They are particularly concentrated (88%) in the stratigraphic interval from 40 to 75 m above the unconformity with the underlying Chilcatay Formation.
The impressive fossil assemblage includes more than 300 specimens preserved as bone elements belonging mostly to cetaceans (81%), represented by mysticetes (cetotheriids and balaenopteroids) and odontocetes (kentriodontid-like delphinidans, pontoporiids, ziphiids, and physeteroids, including the giant raptorial sperm whale Livyatan melvillei). Seals, crocodiles, sea turtles, seabirds, bony fish, and sharks are also reported. Isolated large teeth of Carcharocles and Cosmopolitodus are common throughout the investigated stratigraphical interval, whereas other shark teeth, mostly of carcharinids, are concentrated in one sandy interval. This work represents a first detailed census of the extraordinary paleontological heritage of the Pisco Basin and the basis for future taphonomic, paleoecological, and systematic studies, as well as a much needed conservation effort for this extremely rich paleontological site.
Keywords: paleontological heritage; marine vertebrates; fossils; Miocene; Peru
#2015 Giovanni Bianucci
∗